GoDaddy to build tech center, add jobs in Tempe

The tech company GoDaddy
unveiled plans to build a 150,000 square-foot building in Tempe on Tuesday. The new building will come
with 300 new jobs over the next three years.

Governor Jan Brewer and GoDaddy CEO Blake Irving make footprints on a clay slab that will hang in the new building. (Photo by Christopher Connelly - KJZZ)

GoDaddy’s new GlobalTechnologyCenter will house more
than 1,300 engineers, developers and customer service people. It’ll replace a
smaller Tempe building
the Scottsdale-based Web domain provider
uses now.

CEO Blake Irving said many of
his company’s 11 million customers are small businesses.

“We’re the guys who are helping
little tiny businesses take their idea from a spark to a real honest to
goodness business,” Irving
said.

Irving
said he was ‘stoked’ to be breaking ground in ArizonaStateUniversity’s
ResearchPark where GoDaddy can tap into
local talent from the university.

The company employs about 2,600 people in the Phoenix area.

GoDaddy will get $1.5 million in incentives from the state if it creates the 300 jobs and makes $27 million of capital investment in the project over a three-year period. They're also eligible for up to $9,000 of job training incentives for each job.

Governor Jan Brewer said the announcement
shows Arizona’s
lower taxes, lean regulations and strong univesities make it a good place to
do business.

“Obviously, a world-class
company like GoDaddy could choose to expand anywhere. They chose Arizona,” Brewer said. “They’re building
here in part because Arizona
is committed to the common-sense policies that help them and other businesses
find success.”